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He looked down at her. for a moment, all his soul speak-
ing in his «white, working face, then he raised ‘her and.
-. gently led her to,a door. leading :to. one of the staircases, --
-. and held: back the curtain that she might pass ‘through. >.
_-.- + **Good-bye!” he said. ‘Do not be afraid that—that.I
-. |. shall torture you with my presence. You spoke of. leav-
ing the villa.” Donot. Task that much of you. Grantit
tome’. es - we
With bowed head, Margaret passed through, and, let- ee
ting the curtain fall, he stood for awhile like.one of the |,
statues surrounding him; then, with a gesture terrible in
its intensity, he raised one hand toward heaven, and vowed
~. that he would know no rest till he had avenged her...»
. . And so sprung into existence a foe to Blair more ‘deadly —
than he-had ever known,:a foe spurred, not by personal. —
hate, but by the passionate desire to wreak vengeance on
behalf of the woman of whose love he had been’ robbed,
whose life this unknown man had stained with shame...
-. Andon that day, miles away, at Leyton Court, lay the
great Earl of Ferrers—dying. - : oS
“What is the use of being a king if one must die?’ ex-
_.claimed the Emperor Nero, who had caused death to others |
too often not toknow what it meant.
_.,. The great earl, with half.a dozen titles to his name, and. -
half a couaty owning his sway, lay upon a couch in. his
‘sitting-room, upon which flickered the rays of the setting
‘gun, fitly typifying his own approaching withdrawal -be- .
_ neath the horizon of life. - rot ee
- At his side sat Violet Graham, who had been sent for in
-haste some few days back, and who had remained in close
attention upon the old man. TS NE ag
Near ashe was to.that grim door through which all mor-
_ tality passes never. to return, the earl still bore himself as.
‘a patrician should. The face was drawn and lined, the
white hands were gray and transparent, but the eyes still
_ shone calmly and resolutely, be
_ ‘Has he come, my dear?’’ he asked. . ne
‘<Not yet, my lord,’? said Violet Graham, starting
‘slightly and flushing faintly. “It is scarcely time, I
s think.” pret i er
‘‘T suppose he will come,” said the earl, dryly, “or will
he find himself unable to Iéave the gaming-table and _ his
other pursuits for.a few hours?” oo
“T_T do not think Blair plays much now, my lord,’’ she
said, inalowvoice. ph
“You do not know,” he said, grimly, ‘‘ No one knows.
_ -His life is a mystery. Why has he not been near me— —
when did-you see him last?”
fo
re |
‘ -